Govt threatened with N$6m lawsuit

GOBABIS farmer, 77-year-old Nathaniel Hekandjo, is pre­paring to launch a N$6 mil­lion lawsuit against the government, following his 11-year battle to recov­er his 60 cattle and 170 goats, which he claims were later sold by police officers during a private auction.
In a desperate bid for assistance, Hekandjo wrote numerous letters over the years to former President Hifikepunye Pohamba, current President Hage Geingob, Prosecu­tor-General Martha Imalwa, Nam­pol Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga, the Office of the Om­budsman and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
He said that only President Gein­gob had replied to him favourably.
State House wrote to him on 26 January 2016 as follows, “I have been directed by His Excellency, Dr Hage Geingob, to acknowledge receipt of your letter and to kindly inform you that your complaints have been re­ferred to the Ministry of Safety and Security for investigations.”
The saga started 11 years ago, when Hekandjo was greeted by the appalling site of his Brospan-Dallas farm having been vandalised.
His belongings were destroyed in the incident during March 2006, while his livestock were driven out of their kraal, before they were re­branded on a nearby farm.
At the time, police officers from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit in Goba­bis traced the livestock and Hekand­jo’s other possessions to the nearby Schellenberg resettlement farm, which is owned by Erastus Lineekela Nghishoono, who is an official in the Land Reform Ministry.
Hekandjo opened cases of stock theft and housebreaking and theft.
Nghishoono and two of Hekand­jo’s cattle herders, Alfeus Gabriel and Josef Aindongo, were arrested. The trio were released on bail of N$500 each.
Strangely, as police investigations continued, Hekandjo’s livestock were kept under police guard at the Schellenberg resettlement farm.
Hekandjo said during an inter­view with Confidente that apart from being denied access to his livestock over the years, he was also sent from pillar to post, when enquiring about the status of the criminal matter.
Today, he strongly believes that police officers, who assisted him in the initial stages of his case, later worked with the three accusedto sell his animals for N$210 000 in 2008, before sharing the money.
He also claimed that the police had established that a Toyota Hilux that belonged to Nghishoono had been used in the original theft of his livestock.
Private investigators
After he failed to get answers from the police, he enlisted the help of a private investigating company in 2012, which established that his livestock was privately auctioned in 2008.
“My livestock was sold for only N$210 000, which they shared amongst themselves. This is daylight robbery,” Hekandjo said.
“It was after six years that I pri­vately learned that the accused were out on N$500 bail each and that my livestock that was held by police had been sold, in collaboration with po­lice officers.
“I never received any subpoena to attend the criminal court case as a witness to give evidence to testify. I was totally isolated as from 2006, until this day.
“The ministries of justice and that of safety and security have violat­ed the Namibian Constitution, in terms of Section 31, and their neg­ligent, careless, deceptive actions are crowned by grave fraud and corrup­tion.
“Therefore, I desire to institute a claim against the inspector-gen­eral and prosecutor-general in the amount of N$3.5 million and N$2.5 million, respectively, plus legal costs, with 20 percent on top to teach them not to make Namibia a den of thieves,” Hekandjo said.
“This has cost me a lot of money to replace my stolen items, to buy live­stock and to get my farm running again.”
He says he is heartbroken the police could not professionally and sympathetically handle his case.
“I feel belittled and treated like a second-class citizen. I feel obliged to fight this case to the very end, be­cause if I don’t, they will do it some­body else. Therefore the battle has only just begun, and I will only shed a tear, after I get what is mine.”
Confidente is also in possession of letters from Ndeitunga’s office, in which Hekandjo is informed that investigations continue, and that the PG’s office had not pronounced itself on his housebreaking and livestock theft matters.
His lawyer said that they have ex­hausted all avenues to get to the bot­tom of the matter.
“We are told police investigations into the matter continue. We have reported the matter to every author­ity; we do not know what is going on. We are at a point where we have to accept that nobody can assist us, because we are basically sitting with a problem without a solution. Po­lice officers are not doing their job; they are simply not interested in maintaining law and order. They are simply not cooperating,” Hekandjo’s lawyer, Chris Brandt, said.
When contacted for comment, Nghishoono explained that he was wrongfully arrested.
“I know that the matter is still under investigation. At the time, I was accommodating colleagues on my farm. When police arrived, Hekandjo pointed out that his cat­tle were amongst those of my col­leagues. It was a misunderstanding, but the case is still pending in court, and I will prove my innocence.”
Ndeitunga said, “I am informed that the docket is forwarded to the PG, and we are still awaiting a deci­sion.”